France’s major media outlets support imprisoned Belarusian journalists

A group of inde­pen­dent Belaru­sian jour­nal­ists in exile vis­it­ed France and held sev­er­al sol­i­dar­i­ty events in sup­port of their impris­oned col­leagues.

Belaru­sian jour­nal­ists and staff of Radio France Inter­na­tionale (RFI) hold por­traits of their impris­oned col­leagues. Pho­to: BAJ

Togeth­er with their French col­leagues from Radio France Inter­na­tionale (RFI), Radio France, and Le Monde, the Belaru­sian jour­nal­ists joined the Sol­i­dar­i­ty Marathon.

Dur­ing meet­ings at French media out­lets, the Belaru­sian del­e­ga­tion spoke about their col­leagues who remain behind bars in Belarus.

Iry­na Novik hold­ing a por­trait of Andrzej Poc­zobut at the Le Monde news­room. Pho­to: BAJ

On Octo­ber 22, when the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment award­ed the Andrei Sakharov Prize to impris­oned jour­nal­ist Andrzej Poc­zobut, Iry­na Novik of Hrodna.life com­ment­ed on the event live on Radio France Inter­na­tionale (RFI):

“We’re hap­py, first of all, because he’s a close friend, from Hrod­na, where the pres­ence of the Pol­ish com­mu­ni­ty is very impor­tant. Andrzej has tru­ly shown hero­ism. Among Belaru­sians, we have a joke: if you haven’t been jailed, you’re not a jour­nal­ist — or even a real Belaru­sian.

Andrzej has been in prison for a long time. He could have been released if he had writ­ten a peti­tion for clemen­cy or promised to change his behav­ior. But he stands firm. For us, he’s an exam­ple that we too must stay strong. Thanks to the Sakharov Prize, our sit­u­a­tion will not go unno­ticed.”

In the pho­to by BAJ (left to right): Radio France jour­nal­ist Camille Mag­nard, Iry­na Novik, and Radio France jour­nal­ist Vir­ginie Pironon.

The Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists is call­ing on col­leagues world­wide to join the sol­i­dar­i­ty cam­paign. You can print por­traits of impris­oned jour­nal­ists, take pho­tos with them in rec­og­niz­able loca­tions in your city (out­side Belarus), and post them on social media using the hash­tags #СвабодуЖурналістам and #BecauseThe­Jour­nal­ist, or send them to office@baj.media or intercomm@baj.media.

Belaru­sian and French jour­nal­ists at the Le Monde news­room. Pho­to: BAJ